With today being "Friday the 13th", I got curious about superstitions. I've ALWAYS worried about walking under a ladder or breaking a mirror. When my left hand itches, I know money is coming (sometimes it's obvious from where and other times not). I knock on wood for good luck. When I first started the path, I said something about black cats not crossing my path so I could avoid bad luck. My "teacher" gave me a dirty look and said that wasn't following Wiccan tradition. Or something to that affect that it was non-Pagans who said that due to fear of the unknown and it was unfounded.

So.....do any of you have certain superstitions that hold dear even if they aren't really true? Ay fears of venturing around today? Sports players and the fishermen on Deadliest Catch are VERY superstitious. I'm just curious......lol

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So tell me not of avatars. Show me not your proof that yours is the true god. I grant you your beliefs without question and without judgment, but if you grant me what is in my heart, then such proof is irrelevant. ~Drizzt Do'Urden

So.....do any of you have certain superstitions that hold dear even if they aren't really true? Ay fears of venturing around today? Sports players and the fishermen on Deadliest Catch are VERY superstitious. I'm just curious......lol

I do throw salt over my shoulder if I spill some. But that's about all I can think of.

I don't hold much stock in the Friday the 13th superstition since its generally considered to be unlucky because of the whole mass arrest of the Knights Templar deal...for some reason I usually have better than average luck, although I always have clients who refuse to schedule appointments on that day (and anyone that does come in remarks on it).

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

Knocking on wood is SUPPOSED to be done on certain wood....I think it's oak, not sure but it was on Yahoo at one point.........so that the wood nymphs don't hear you saying something stupid. My dad said that for it to come true when your left hand itches, it has to be a certain wood. I have a rocking chair from my Grandmother that is real wood and I rub my palm on that when it itches.

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So tell me not of avatars. Show me not your proof that yours is the true god. I grant you your beliefs without question and without judgment, but if you grant me what is in my heart, then such proof is irrelevant. ~Drizzt Do'Urden

Knocking on wood is SUPPOSED to be done on certain wood....I think it's oak, not sure but it was on Yahoo at one point.........so that the wood nymphs don't hear you saying something stupid. My dad said that for it to come true when your left hand itches, it has to be a certain wood. I have a rocking chair from my Grandmother that is real wood and I rub my palm on that when it itches.

I wouldn't cite Yahoo as a reliable source for . . . erm, anything much. But my old Grampy was a Chippy for a Southampton Shipwrights before the War, and he told me that you'd knock on wood, primarily to see whether the Ship's timbers were sound before you put to sea in it. And seeing as you might be afloat for many months without a tree in sight, on a Clipper bound for China, or a Whaler, heading for the Japans after Spermacatti Whales, it would be prudent to spend an hour or two knocking on wood before signing on. Ships often used Larch wood for ribs, and Larch is more prone to rot than Oak. (But more flexible)

So while the Keel and boards might be sound, if one of her Larch ribs was rotted, there was a very real danger of suddenly having an unrepairable hull breach in the middle of a force 10 Gale, 600 leagues from land, and seeing what a notorious lot of superstitious heathens Sailors were, I can quite believe that's where the tradition came from. Shiver me timbers.

There was some old Captain of the Line, back in the 1700's who was a God fearing man, and he was appalled at the amount of superstition in the Navy. So he decided to dispel the myths of the stupid Sailors, and encourage them to put their faith in God. He had a brand new Ship, which he decided to call "Friday" (after the unluckiest day to set sail on) The ship was launched on Friday the thirteenth, with no naming ceremony. He also had a few cages of rabbits ( Anathema to Sailors) for the Galley stewpot, all in an attempt to prove that superstition was irrelevant as long as you had a good ship, a good crew, a good Captain, and good wind. As the ship set sail from Portsmouth Harbour, on a fine Spring morning, the Captain was heard to be actually whistling from his quarterdeck, as she was piloted out into the Solent. Off she sailed, and was never seen or heard of again. It's one thing not to be superstitious, but quite another to deliberately court bad luck. Especially at Sea. Where I'm reliably informed, "Worse things happen".

I have no citation for this story, and while it might be a load of old bollocks, if I had been a Sailor, signed on to the Friday, I would have made sure I jumped ship on Thursday bloody afternoon, and signed on to another Ship, first thing Saturday morning Matey. Aaargh!

I've heard the captains of Deadliest Catch talk about it being bad luck to leave Dutch Harbor on Friday, but they've never given a reason. Of course being the pirates that they are, the Hillstrands (captains of the Time Bandit) once left on a Friday....making sure to due a counter-clockwise turn as they left to "ward off the bad juju". LOL I think Sig (captain of the Northwestern and probably the MOST superstitious of the group, being Norwegian may be why) once said that if you circle your chair to the left 3 times it cancels the bad luck when speaking of foolish things. Or such......it was during one of the specials with the captains after an episode.

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So tell me not of avatars. Show me not your proof that yours is the true god. I grant you your beliefs without question and without judgment, but if you grant me what is in my heart, then such proof is irrelevant. ~Drizzt Do'Urden

I lived on Portland Bill for a few years, and the locals there really give you the stinkeye if you say "Rabbit". It sounds ridiculous but they really do. My Mate put a walking stick with a carved horn rabbit's head up on his window shelf, to take the piss, and within a couple of weeks someone put his window through, grabbed the stick, snapped it, and threw the ends back through the window, that's how seriously they take it. You have to call them "Bunnies" instead. It's like Fraggle Rock down there. Fishermen will turn round and go home again if a rabbit looks at them "a bit funny" on the way to work. And the whole island is hopping with rabbits too. Apparently, a few hundred years ago, the rabbits burrowed through tons of solid limestone, causing a whole stonemine to collapse on dozens of Miners, killing them all. But I can't see it myself. I think the rabbits took the blame for shoddy pitprops, and lax safety measures. And like, it was centuries ago! Get over it you inbred Bumpkins! There's families there who haven't been off the island for generations! *Cue Banjo music* Beautiful place, but a bit Royston Vasey, if you know what I mean.

I have two that I do all the time , one before I start to fish I'll ( biblical ) cast bread on the water. Two before hunting will scatter seeds for the birds . Grandpa used to do that , in all likelyhood it does not work but what the hell .The breads supposed to bring the fish into the area and the seeds are suppose to keep the birds quiet so they will not alert the game. That does not work either but it has become ritual over the decades. Can't hurt .

Serp , what colour are those bunnies ?.

« Last Edit: April 30, 2012, 04:25:09 PM by oldghost »

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"Everything I know I learned by listening and watching . Nowadays people learn out of books instead . Doctors study what man has learned . I pray to understand what man has forgotten ." Vernon Cooper

I have two that I do all the time , one before I start to fish I'll ( biblical ) cast bread on the water. Two before hunting will scatter seeds for the birds . Grandpa used to do that , in all likelyhood it does not work but what the hell .The breads supposed to bring the fish into the area and the seeds are suppose to keep the birds quiet so they will not alert the game. That does not work either but it has become ritual over the decades. Can't hurt.

Makes sense to me. It's worth a try.

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We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service relationship to humanity. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.